On this Sunday night (May 1) from 7:20pm, Todd will be on Phoenix FM 106.7MHz to talk about Without Walls with radio host and Outdoor Edge Co-ordinator & Praxis Educator, Dave Fagg, from Seeds Bendigo – a part of Urban Seed. Let us know if you will be tuning in.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Church of Jesus where are you?
This weekend was Easter. I know that Easter is not really when Jesus was Crucified. (Historical records put the date as April 3 or 4). I know that it is really a pagan moon festival centred around the northern hemisphere spring equinox. But still, it IS one of the few times in the year where Christianity - in whatever form it may come can legitimately take centre stage in the minds of the average Australian.
Traditionally Bendigo has a festival at Easter. The carnival rides come to town, there are art exhibitions and family entertainment in Rosalind park. Easter in Bendigo is a great time. The highlight is the Easter procession where schools, businesses and community groups enter floats along with car clubs and marching bands. The culmination of the procession has always been held by the Chinese community with Bendigo's own Chinese dragon (yes dragon!) - nowadays along with a bunch of other dragons. Traditionally this procession has been on the Easter Monday, however because of Easter's proximity to Anzac Day this year, they moved the procession to Sunday. I see this spiritually as a sad historic event.
Over the Easter weekend I went out on the street with a couple friends and family and talked to people about Jesus while giving out some gospel tracts. I have to say that by the end of the weekend I was so grieved in my spirit, I didn't know whether to be angry or weep. I have certainly done both. As I walked the streets what did I see? All the masses of Bendigo's population were out - along with thousands of visitors from other places. This is one of the biggest events Bendigo has. And on the streets with all these people, I saw the promotion of eastern mysticism in the Chinese dancing and celebrations - something that has managed to so attach and entangle itself to this otherwise Christian holiday that any self-respecting Bendigonian could not imagine Easter without the dragon! There were also other false Gods being peddled with the Harikrishnas, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses all out in force. The new age was also prominently represented at the street market held on Saturday. Add to all this the licentious and lustful entertainment of eye and body through the food and rides.
And where was the church - the body of Christ - on this weekend commemorating His death and resurrection? Where was the message of what this weekend was about? Nowhere to be seen! Instead of His hands and feet; his eyes and mouth walking the streets and ministering to the crowds as it did when Jesus himself walked the earth; the body of Christ was locked behind it's walls with their stained-glass windows. In the past, even just in my memory, Bendigo has had some wonderful expressions at Easter. Most recently, a gospel music outreach and presentation after the Fireworks. Many years ago there was "The Way of the Cross" - a dramatisation of the Passion using Bendigo's historic buildings for the locations of the drama. There have also been in the past fantastic representations in the procession with floats and such. But this year, if there was anything, I was not able to find it despite my efforts of looking.
Now I will admit that I was not down the street ALL the time. In fact I did not see all of the procession this year. So if there WAS something done by one of the churches - then thank God for it! Praise the Lord. But whatever feeble attempts were made by the churches either to gather people to their buildings or to reach out to the community, went for the vast majority, if not unheard, certainly unheeded.
This whole scenario would be comical if it were not so sad. On the day that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus; this day that commemorates Jesus rising from the grave with all the saints walking the streets of Jerusalem; that on this day, the church now sits locked behind doors and walls while dragons LITERALLY roam unchecked in the streets and false religions claim these holy days as their own. What has become of the Jesus' Body? Where is that resurrection power on the day set aside to remember it?
The world is even asking the question "What has happened to Easter?", with television shows and Newspapers asking whether Easter has lost its way. This is no more powerfully evident than in our own city. Brothers and sisters in Christ, this weekend I came looking for you amongst all the people and could not find you. I even know of a Church in this city that in recognising the late and dark hour we live in, huddled together to talk about the late and dark hour we live in!
People of Jesus! Get out of your buildings, get off your programs and stop lying to yourselves about how well you are doing reaching out for Jesus! Get to the streets - where the people are and proclaim the message of Jesus while we still have time and permission to do so in our nation!
Over the Easter weekend I went out on the street with a couple friends and family and talked to people about Jesus while giving out some gospel tracts. I have to say that by the end of the weekend I was so grieved in my spirit, I didn't know whether to be angry or weep. I have certainly done both. As I walked the streets what did I see? All the masses of Bendigo's population were out - along with thousands of visitors from other places. This is one of the biggest events Bendigo has. And on the streets with all these people, I saw the promotion of eastern mysticism in the Chinese dancing and celebrations - something that has managed to so attach and entangle itself to this otherwise Christian holiday that any self-respecting Bendigonian could not imagine Easter without the dragon! There were also other false Gods being peddled with the Harikrishnas, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses all out in force. The new age was also prominently represented at the street market held on Saturday. Add to all this the licentious and lustful entertainment of eye and body through the food and rides.
And where was the church - the body of Christ - on this weekend commemorating His death and resurrection? Where was the message of what this weekend was about? Nowhere to be seen! Instead of His hands and feet; his eyes and mouth walking the streets and ministering to the crowds as it did when Jesus himself walked the earth; the body of Christ was locked behind it's walls with their stained-glass windows. In the past, even just in my memory, Bendigo has had some wonderful expressions at Easter. Most recently, a gospel music outreach and presentation after the Fireworks. Many years ago there was "The Way of the Cross" - a dramatisation of the Passion using Bendigo's historic buildings for the locations of the drama. There have also been in the past fantastic representations in the procession with floats and such. But this year, if there was anything, I was not able to find it despite my efforts of looking.
Now I will admit that I was not down the street ALL the time. In fact I did not see all of the procession this year. So if there WAS something done by one of the churches - then thank God for it! Praise the Lord. But whatever feeble attempts were made by the churches either to gather people to their buildings or to reach out to the community, went for the vast majority, if not unheard, certainly unheeded.
This whole scenario would be comical if it were not so sad. On the day that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus; this day that commemorates Jesus rising from the grave with all the saints walking the streets of Jerusalem; that on this day, the church now sits locked behind doors and walls while dragons LITERALLY roam unchecked in the streets and false religions claim these holy days as their own. What has become of the Jesus' Body? Where is that resurrection power on the day set aside to remember it?
The world is even asking the question "What has happened to Easter?", with television shows and Newspapers asking whether Easter has lost its way. This is no more powerfully evident than in our own city. Brothers and sisters in Christ, this weekend I came looking for you amongst all the people and could not find you. I even know of a Church in this city that in recognising the late and dark hour we live in, huddled together to talk about the late and dark hour we live in!
People of Jesus! Get out of your buildings, get off your programs and stop lying to yourselves about how well you are doing reaching out for Jesus! Get to the streets - where the people are and proclaim the message of Jesus while we still have time and permission to do so in our nation!
| 1Cr 1:21 | Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. |
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Further, Higher, Stronger, Hotter
Recently I had a friend tell me he had Christian friends say to him that he need to 'calm down' a bit in his walk; that he was getting a bit carried away with it all.
This attitude is actually Anti-christ. Christianity - real Jesus following Christianity - is an extreme sport - and played properly it WILL kill you!
Everything, EVERYTHING about following Jesus is extreme and over the top. God himself is extreme. Not sure? Just look at where you live! God did not use any half measures putting this planet and this universe together. Even in the broken down state it is in, we still marvel at it.
(NLT)Romans 1:20
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
And look at the passionate statements made by Jesus and the apostles:
(NLT)Matthew 16:24-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. [25] If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. [26] And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
This is HUGE. Can you imagine the impact that statement would have had on you as a follower of Jesus in those days?
(NLT)Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
In Paul's day, athletes ran their races completely naked. Paul is likening our run with Jesus (we have got to stop calling it a walk!) to these athletes that would literally throw off EVERYTHING to run. How extreme is that?
Jesus hates mediocrity. Yes HATES. It makes him want to vomit.
(NLT)Revelation 3:15-16
"I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! [16] But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth!
First of all, this is not a statement about the general human condition, Jesus is not saying here that He would prefer people to be completely switched off to him than lukewarm. This message was to Christians, members of the Body of Christ. Laodicea had two nearby towns. On one side was Hierapolis, which had hot mineral springs that were said to have medicinal properties. On the the other side was Colossae, with pure cold springs. Poor old Laodicea was fed by an aqueduct that would bring water to the town that was tepid and polluted. Jesus is saying he hates "middle ground". This again is a call by Christ to be extreme in how we live and follow him.
Let me say it categorically - the LAST thing you or I or any other believer needs to do is calm down. On the contrary, we should be allowing ourselves to be so swept away and so passionately entangled with Jesus that we become totally consumed with Him and by Him. C.S. Lewis put it beautifully in "Mere Christianity":
This attitude is actually Anti-christ. Christianity - real Jesus following Christianity - is an extreme sport - and played properly it WILL kill you!
Everything, EVERYTHING about following Jesus is extreme and over the top. God himself is extreme. Not sure? Just look at where you live! God did not use any half measures putting this planet and this universe together. Even in the broken down state it is in, we still marvel at it.
(NLT)Romans 1:20
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
And look at the passionate statements made by Jesus and the apostles:
(NLT)Matthew 16:24-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. [25] If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. [26] And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
This is HUGE. Can you imagine the impact that statement would have had on you as a follower of Jesus in those days?
(NLT)Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
In Paul's day, athletes ran their races completely naked. Paul is likening our run with Jesus (we have got to stop calling it a walk!) to these athletes that would literally throw off EVERYTHING to run. How extreme is that?
Jesus hates mediocrity. Yes HATES. It makes him want to vomit.
(NLT)Revelation 3:15-16
"I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! [16] But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth!
First of all, this is not a statement about the general human condition, Jesus is not saying here that He would prefer people to be completely switched off to him than lukewarm. This message was to Christians, members of the Body of Christ. Laodicea had two nearby towns. On one side was Hierapolis, which had hot mineral springs that were said to have medicinal properties. On the the other side was Colossae, with pure cold springs. Poor old Laodicea was fed by an aqueduct that would bring water to the town that was tepid and polluted. Jesus is saying he hates "middle ground". This again is a call by Christ to be extreme in how we live and follow him.
Let me say it categorically - the LAST thing you or I or any other believer needs to do is calm down. On the contrary, we should be allowing ourselves to be so swept away and so passionately entangled with Jesus that we become totally consumed with Him and by Him. C.S. Lewis put it beautifully in "Mere Christianity":
"The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says, 'Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the one you think wicked - the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours."
The real challenge for us as comfortable Aussie Christians, is to genuinely find that passion for Jesus. The passion that you find among believers all through the third world and in places of extreme persecution. Our comfort has lulled us to sleep. We are like a man in a Mercedes driving down the road and falling asleep at the wheel. All the modern comforts and conveniences and assists have caused him to forget he is hurtling along the road at 110 kph in a tin can with a petrol bomb strapped to it! In the same, we are hurtling through life at an incredible pace - though from where we are sitting at the moment it may seem slow. We are drifting off to sleep, but careening towards a head-on with eternity.
We need to wake up! We need others beside us that are not going to sing us a lullaby but instead are going to goad us and challenge us and stir us up. Don't come to me if you want comfort. All you are going to hear from me is "further", "higher", "faster", "deeper", "longer", "hotter", "harder", "stronger", "more"! If you have friends that are telling you any less than this - it is time to change friends. Instead, lets "build each other up" as we are encouraged in the scriptures to do. Create a spiritual thermal that will draw others up to higher levels in Jesus.
Honestly, we haven't even begun to see extreme yet. I want to find it. I am aching to find it. I want to experience the full force of his love in and power through my life - without restraint. What about you?
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